Breathless on walking hat I call ‘bad days

Thank you all so much.  Just an update. I went to see my GP who has referred me to my cardiologist. As I am being shielded I have been offered a virtual consultation on Friday as a private patient.  This I have accepted. I decided to go for a short walk yesterday wearing my pulse oximeter. After about 20 paces I was very breathless, the alarm went off on my pulse oximeter. My pulse reading was 96  but my oxygen sats were 91.  The sats went up and pulse lowered when I stopped walking. Any comments please.?

While I’m here.-  I’ve had my pacemaker 3 years but for the last year I have noticed I have what I call ‘bad days’ of extreme exhaustion and good days when until now I have been walking and enjoying things. Does anyone else experience this. 

 

3 Comments

Good and bad days

by Gemita - 2020-06-17 17:09:00

Hello Noomin,

Thank you for the update.  Did your GP take any bloods when you saw him/her to check for the causes of your breathlessness ?  You sound as though you really need to be seen by your cardiologist rather than having a phone consultation.  You have been through a lot with your hip operation and you may still be recovering from that procedure too.

I would keep a record of your pulse oximeter readings and your symptoms at the time to discuss with your cardiologist.  The only time I get breathless is when I go into an arrhythmia like atrial fibrillation.  That can really make me extremely breathless and make even gentle exertion difficult.  I know you suffer from AF too so you could try asking your cardiologist whether this arrhythmia could be causing your difficulties.  I see you are on Flecainide too and that med, together with my beta blocker Bisoprolol often made my breathlessness worse.  Perhaps you might ask for a period of monitoring to see what is going on to help put your mind at rest and to see how well your pacemaker is functioning.

I hope you get some answers soon 
 

 

You need to be seen by your doc - in person

by crustyg - 2020-06-17 18:23:30

I wouldn't be happy with a %O2Sat of 91% after 20 paces.  Well done for having a go at some exercise, but this isn't good for the reasons I explained last time.

And as Gemita points out, cardiac output may drop if you have a burst of AFlut/AFib, and this could be the cause of feeling terrible.

Keep pushing them for some proper care, not just a video chat.

 

Breathlessness

by Noomin - 2020-06-18 16:31:23

Thanks Gemita and crustyg. I’ll keep you posted. 

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